This invention relates to the preparation and testing of fluid samples. In one of its aspects it particularly relates to the testing of two-phase fluid mixtures such as those found in geothermal fluid. In another aspect this invention relates to the testing of scaling properties of geothermal fluids. In yet another of its aspects this invention relates to on-site, portable test apparatus.
Reduced supplies and limited international exchange of energy resources have encouraged exploitation of all available energy sources. A major source of natural energy lies in the heated fluids that are found in geothermal basins. The exploitation of geothermal energy has, therefore, become important. A major problem with the exploitation of geothermal energy is caused by the fact that the geothermal liquid (brine) that carries the stored energy is highly corrosive and deposits scale in the equipment used in the utilization of the energy. Flow rates of 50,000 to 100,000 barrels of brine per day at temperatures of 100.degree. to 340.degree. C. can provide considerable useful energy; however, such flow rates containing from 5,000 to 250,000 ppm salt also provide a high rate of equipment deterioration which hinders the economical development of this source of energy.
It has become necessary to evaluate geothermal fluids to determine their scaling and corrosion potentials prior to economic investment. Until recently, however, most methods of evaluating scaling involved sampling well fluid and simulating well conditions away from the well site. Only limited evaluation of scaling and corrosion has been made using actual well fluids with the majority of data for scale evaluation being calculated from well parameters, i.e. flow rate, temperature, pressure, salinity, and the like.
The present invention is an on-site geothermal well test facility that is portable that is made up of an orifice meter, an isokinetic sampling nozzle, a non-condensable gas sample separator, and its own power station. This unit is utilized for determination of well characteristics, mass flow, pressure, temperature, enthalpy, and the like, using actual well fluid at the site of the well. Also the present invention is designed to provide an on-site, portable test apparatus for use in evaluating geothermal well parameters and developmental characteristics particularly aimed at determining corrosion and scaling characteristics. It can be seen that such a device would also be useful in testing fluid samples from any source that contains dissolved chemical compounds that can produce scaling and corrosion problems in production equipment.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an apparatus and method for obtaining and testing fluid samples. It is another object of this invention to provide apparatus and method for determining scaling and corrosion characteristics of geothermal liquid. It is still another object of this invention to provide specific apparatus and test methods for characterizing scaling from geothermal fluids. It is yet another object of this invention to test scale inhibitors.
Other aspects, objects and the various advantages of this invention will become apparent upon the study of this specification, the appended drawing, and the claims.